Prebble Family Tales

It took Gareth many weeks to finally settle on a Halloween costume. He couldn’t decide between Batman or Spiderman (that’s right, it had to be a superhero! Much to Trav’s dismay, Gareth didn’t even consider a Star Wars costume this year!) Finally, Spidey won out. Gareth went trick-or-treating at the mall the week before Halloween. He used his speech button to say “Trick or Treat” to pretty much anyone that we passed; I think I heard it about 100 times that night! At school, Gareth got to parade around the neighborhood with his classmates and got to enjoy some Halloween fun. Finally, on Halloween night, Gar took a quick stroll around the neighborhood with Trav. He didn’t last too long out that night though; he was much more interested in greeting the trick-or-treaters at our door so that he could show off his costume and check out everyone else’s! <%popup(20051121-spidey.jpg|427|640|Spiderman)%> | <%popup(20051121-SPIDERMAN.jpg|640|577|Spiderman crawls along the floor)%>

Gareth’s school went on a field trip to a local farm in October. We enjoyed a hayride to the pumpkin patch and Gareth got to choose a pumpkin to take home. Everyone also got to pick an apple and got to munch on it on the hayride back to the farm. Gareth had a blast on the whole trip, but he especially enjoyed grabbing us some yummy red apples to crunch! <%popup(20051121-apples1.jpg|640|424|Way up high in the apple tree)%> | <%popup(20051121-apples2.jpg|640|528|I can almost reach! )%>

Now that I’m back to work full-time (I’m a teacher at Gar’s school, Easter Seals), Gareth is at school all day every day. He loves it and being there all day has been really good for him. I worried about putting him in school all day, but it has really worked out in many ways. I get to see Gareth quite a bit during the day, and his teachers and nurse are really great about getting me when something exciting is happening with Gar and are wonderful at keeping me informed about how things are going. Gareth has been very motivated to do more at school in all areas; his motor skills are improving nicely and he’s becoming quite the social butterfly (with both the boys and the girls, though he continues to be a regular ladies’ man!)

Gareth’s day at school is filled with all sorts of fun. He likes art projects and has brought home many a masterpiece for us. <%popup(20051121-messingpainter.jpg|640|427|Messing Painter)%>| <%popup(20051121-cutting.jpg|640|497|Cutting with his adapted scissors)%> Gareth really enjoys hanging out with his friends, and the kids at Easter Seals are terrific with Gar. They are now so comfortable with him that they play with him like any other kid–they even use his pictures or hold out their hands to give him choices to communicate. <%popup(20051121-tire swing.jpg|640|429|Gar and his friends on the tire swing)%>| <%popup(20051121-garjalen2.JPG|640|480|Gareth plays a game with help from a friend)%> Gareth likes outside time, and the bike path is one of his favorite places to play. He’s doing so well with his adapted trike–he pedals really well and can even make himself go uphill now! Gareth also enjoys riding some of the other toys outside on the playground. <%popup(20051121-car2.JPG|640|480|Driving in my car)%> | One of the most exciting things about Gareth’s time at school is his newfound enjoyment of physical therapy! Gareth has always given his poor PT a hard time during therapy sessions, but this seems to be a thing of the past. Woo hoo! Here he is enjoying some climbing fun with his PT, Jorene, to work on building his strength. <%popup(20051121-crawlingup.jpg|640|518|Starting up the hill)%>| <%popup(20051121-madeit.jpg|548|640|Made it to the top! )%>

Show and Tell is one of Gareth’s favorite times at school. He helps us write clues for his item and we program the clues on his computer. During show and tell he then tells his classmates his clues and then reveals his item. Gareth chose the bongos he and Trav use for a drum video game as his first show and tell item. He was so excited about show and tell I thought he was going to burst! <%popup(20051121-clues.jpg|640|501|Sharing the clues)%>| <%popup(20051121-drum.jpg|640|420|Showing the bongos)%>

Life sure never slows down in the Prebble house! The past few months have just flown by and have been jam packed with all sorts of new and fun things.

Gareth was quite the fish this summer and spent any free time paddling around the pool in his boat. He would’ve been the whole way under water if we had allowed it! Maybe someday, kiddo! <%popup(20051121-pool1.jpg|640|410|Happy Swimmer)%> | <%popup(20051121-pool2.jpg|640|425|Riding in the boat)%>

Gar decided to assert his independence a bit over the past months. He likes to do more by himself now and is trying to do all sorts of new things. One night he surpised us by letting us know he could put himself to bed. He started in the living room and rolled the entire way back the hall and into his bedroom. He used the wall to kick himself around and he crawled a bit through his doorway and then rolled to his bed. From there we just needed to lift him into bed. We were so impressed! <%popup(20051121-rolling.jpg|640|459|Heading back the hall)%>| <%popup(20051121-almosthere.jpg|640|425|And into the room he goes!)%>

Gareth had lots of fun at Keegan’s 4th birthday party this year. He chose to be in his walker for most of the party, and so he was able to run around like all of the other kids and take part in more of the festivities this year. It is a wonderful thing to watch Gareth interact with other kids and have fun in typical kid activities! Here he is <%popup(20051121-batman.jpg|362|640|enjoying the pin the bat on Batman game)%> and <%popup(20051121-scooter.jpg|640|435|riding in a cool scooter.)%>

It has become quite clear these days that Gareth is becoming a big boy. He’s very much into typical boy things now–superheros (check out those Halloween pictures!), basketball, playing video games with Trav, and big boy toys. Trav was delighted when Gareth decided that sword fighting was a fun activity. They play a fighting game video game (Gar uses a huge joystick and actually holds his own!) and they have fun with Gar’s plastic sword. <%popup(20051121-sword.jpg|415|640|The Prebble Boys Joust)%> I can’t believe my little boy is now into this stuff! Guess it had to happen sooner or later.